The inscrutable Chinese stereotype is based on a lack of knowledge of Asian ways. When foreigners work in China or with Chinese people who practice guanxi – and most do to some extent because it is ingrained in the culture – the result can be misunderstanding, distrust, anger and even the end of a business relationship. Understanding key cultural expectations in China can improve a foreigner's business and social relationships.
A good place to start is understanding that guanxi is foundational to the Chinese culture in the same way that freedom is to Americans. In the US, freedom means, at a minimum, the ability to choose one's own behavior, clothing, religious practices, words and travel destination.
Guanxi is Networking on Steroids
For Chinese, guanxi means that nothing is more important than the interpersonal relationships between friends and family members. In the Chinese community, life and getting things done is all about connections. The closeness of any particular relationship will determine to what lengths a person must help someone else. Even a friend of a friend is entitled to some help but the use of guanxi does not preclude an exchange of money or some other kind of payment.
Behavior motivated by guanxi throws a curve ball at budding business between Chinese and Westerners because the behavior it engenders is so unexpected to the non-Asian. Yet ethics based on guanxi is understood by Chinese organizations because it is in play at every level of the society. Interactions between large corporations, small shopkeepers, and even students may all be influenced, if not determined, by the cultural expectations of guanxi.
Real Life Examples of Chinese Culture and Guanxi
In the three years I have lived in China, many examples of guanxi have come to my attention. The following three events really happened. They provide a peek at the results of the workings of this non-Western gravitational force:
- A university student went home because her father was seriously ill. She returned to classes just in time for a test. She was not prepared to take the exam so some of her usually non-cheating classmates passed her the answers while others helped by distracting the teacher.
- A highly ethical nurse who runs a hospital's outpatient treatment center felt compelled to bypass hospital registration and provide free services to a friend who needed many expensive treatments. Co-workers and supervisors knew and tacitly agreed with the behavior.
- The tentacles of guan xi may reach far beyond belief. A foreign teacher from the US was asked by her friend to edit a master's thesis which had been written in English by a Chinese graduate student. It was not the friend's thesis, it was her teacher's husband's boss's daughter's thesis. More than twenty hours later, the request was fulfilled. No money or gifts were included in the arrangement.
In each of these cases, the relationships were more complicated than a few sentences can indicate and this article is too short to explain the complete interplay of social interactions that led to these events. The playing out of guanxi goes much deeper than the mere paying back of favors. Connections are usually multi-leveled, often finessed but sometimes heavy-handed, and assistance is usually bi- or multi-directional.
In explaining the role of history to guanxi, one of my Chinese friends said, “We have a long history – much longer than in American – and many families still live in the same area so the connections we make today and those that were formed by our ancestors are all available.”
This explanation of guanxi is greatly simplified and superficial. As the last example shows, it is not a straightforward custom but as complicated as life itself. To gain a better understanding of guanxi, it is helpful to be immersed in Chinese culture and experience it firsthand.
Sources:
Xu Xiaodan and Xue Zhaoshi patiently explained some of the nuances of this often perplexing yet fascinating topic.
Mistie Shaw - Writing for nearly half a century, Shaw's interests and education meander from music to the military, and from faith to fun.
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